 | 'Twixt Kiss and Lip or Under the Sword. By the author of "Women Must Weep," [i.e. F. W. O. Ward] Third edition |  |
363
“AT THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE.”
Deut. 17, 6.
“At the mouth of two or three, shall every sentence
Established be,” saith God,
Whose name is Love, Who leads unto repentance
Those that have farthest trod
Away from Him, Who would not have a woman
By the mere idle word
Of but one witness, who is weakly human,
Consigned to shame, unheard,
And marked with brand that cannot be amended,
If it should ever lie
Athwart the honour, that is undefended,
And then must simply die.
Established be,” saith God,
Whose name is Love, Who leads unto repentance
Those that have farthest trod
Away from Him, Who would not have a woman
By the mere idle word
Of but one witness, who is weakly human,
Consigned to shame, unheard,
And marked with brand that cannot be amended,
If it should ever lie
Athwart the honour, that is undefended,
And then must simply die.
“At mouth of only one, whate'er the vices
Himself hath wrought,” saith man,
“The life most pure and modest, it suffices
To lay beneath the ban;
So long as saving Law we somehow cherish,
And vindicate its might,
If innocents should sometimes chance to perish—
Who can be always right?
And it were better for the whole grand nation,
Which else might be condemned,
That some should suffer from false accusation,
Than Order be contemned.”
Himself hath wrought,” saith man,
“The life most pure and modest, it suffices
To lay beneath the ban;
So long as saving Law we somehow cherish,
And vindicate its might,
If innocents should sometimes chance to perish—
Who can be always right?
And it were better for the whole grand nation,
Which else might be condemned,
That some should suffer from false accusation,
Than Order be contemned.”
Thus he with God at variance is, revising
The justice of that plan,
Which girds the ages, every clime comprising
With universal span;
And still defacing, by the cruel nature,
Which woman has laid low,
Which renders sport of man-made legislature,
The image he would show;
While tearing statutes from the poor man's Bible,
Which is his charter deed,
To read in it the outrage of a libel,
Upon his sister's need.
The justice of that plan,
Which girds the ages, every clime comprising
With universal span;
And still defacing, by the cruel nature,
Which woman has laid low,
Which renders sport of man-made legislature,
The image he would show;
While tearing statutes from the poor man's Bible,
Which is his charter deed,
To read in it the outrage of a libel,
Upon his sister's need.
But he who dares to give the Scripture scorning,
That any child may see,
And robs the maiden of that proud adorning,
Which fashions bright and free
The lowliest form—who thrusts his mortal error,
Before eternal Truth,
Shall wake himself at last to judgment terror,
Who pitied not his Ruth,
To hear the final doom of separation,
Because he slighted her,
At mouth of One who fixes condemnation,
And one who cannot err.
That any child may see,
And robs the maiden of that proud adorning,
Which fashions bright and free
The lowliest form—who thrusts his mortal error,
Before eternal Truth,
Shall wake himself at last to judgment terror,
Who pitied not his Ruth,
364
Because he slighted her,
At mouth of One who fixes condemnation,
And one who cannot err.
| 'Twixt Kiss and Lip or Under the Sword. By the author of "Women Must Weep," [i.e. F. W. O. Ward] Third edition | |